Tim Anderson, Taijuan Walker among replacement players for All-Star Game

Chicago White Sox's Tim Anderson watches his ball after hitting a double in the ninth inning in a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians. (Tony Dejak/AP)

The 2021 MLB All-Star Game is set to have a record-tying 39 first-time All-Stars.

The league announced on Saturday the names of 10 players set to appear in the upcoming game in Denver as replacements for original selections that won’t be able to play, which has brought the number of All-Star rookies to an all-time high.

In the American League, Chicago White Sox’s Tim Anderson leads the new selections, while new National League All-Stars include New York Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker.

But the replacement selections also brought back some veteran names into the fold, such as St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer. Molina, who turns 39 on Tuesday, announced Saturday that he would be skipping the event to rest.

The Houston Astros had four withdrawals from the All-Star Game, with slugger Carlos Correa passing on it to spend time with his wife, Daniella, Jose Altuve dealing with unspecified leg issues, outfielder Michael Brantley sitting due to injury and reliever Ryan Pressly on paternity leave.

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish and Mets ace Jacob deGrom are also skipping the All-Star Game with ailments.

Check out the full list of All-Star replacements below.

American League

Tim Anderson, SS, Chicago White Sox

Chris Bassitt, SP, Oakland Athletics

Whit Merrifield, 2B, Kansas City Royals

Joey Wendle, SS, Tampa Bay Rays

National League

Walker Buehler, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Yadier Molina, C, St. Louis Cardinals

Freddy Peralta, SP, Milwaukee Brewers

Max Scherzer, SP, Washington Nationals

Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers

Taijuan Walker, SP, New York Mets

— With files from The Associated Press.

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